Peralta Community College District's Only Student-Run Publication
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

The Citizen
(Photo by Li Khan/The Citizen)
PCCD to hold hearing on proposed layoffs
February 10, 2025
Faculty, classified employees, and administrators convened Friday to share ideas for how to repair the district's financial crisis in the long term. The district needs to make at least $11.5 million in cuts next year, but officials say a significant "reimagining" of the district is necessary to sustain the district in the long run.
PCCD is in crisis. Everything is on the table
February 1, 2025
An audience in academic regalia watches a graduation ceremony. One graduation cap reads, "All that I am & hope to be, I owe to those who believed in me[.]" (Photo: Marcus Creel/PCCD)
Gilkerson quells Pell grant fears during federal freeze: “This executive order does NOT impact your financial aid”
January 29, 2025
Longtime head coach for the Laney College Eagles, John Beam, retired last month from coaching, but will stay on as the Director of Athletics.
In case you missed it: Beam retires, new audit scrutinizes financial oversight and more at 12/10 trustee meeting
January 28, 2025
Berkeley City College is picking a new mascot, and it wants the community's help.
Owl, Penguin, or Butterfly? Four days left to choose BCC’s next mascot
January 4, 2025
New CoA President wants to be a role model for students
New CoA President wants to be a role model for students
December 12, 2024
Laney's student body president, Frida Veliz, wants to help connect students to the resources she didn't have access to when she first started college.
New ASLC President Builds Community
December 11, 2024
Cheryl Lew has been an instructor in the Culinary Arts department since 2012 and was tenured in 2015. Her focus is on baking and pastries.
Multi-layered, highly decorated pastry chef Cheryl Lew brings culture and chemistry to Laney’s culinary department
December 11, 2024
Laney Engineering Department Chair Mallory Barkdull tallies points as her students pit their soccer-playing robots against each other. The friendly tournament challenges contestants to learn design and coding skills through play.
Robot soccer teaches students nuts and bolts of engineering
November 26, 2024
A new space for LGBTQ+ students has popped up on the Laney College campus. The Queer Community center will host events and offer resources to LGBTQ+ members of the Peralta community.
‘We’re here, we’re in school, we have dreams’: New Laney queer center offers safe haven for LGBTQ+ students
November 20, 2024
Native American photographer Dugan Aguilar spent decades documenting the lives of Indigenous Californians through his camera lens. His collection of work is on display now at the Oakland Museum of Califoria. (Shown: “Mimi Mullen (Madiu) Grand Marshall,” 1997 Greenville Gold Digger Days Parade)
This Indigenous art exhibition is free for Laney students
January 27, 2025
A seven-year relationship ends in a tumultuous fight in Jeffrey Lo's "A Kind of Sad Love Story," performed live at the Laney Theater last month. Shown: Maya Wooten, Jesse Savoey
‘It started with an argument about bags’: Laney Theater performs A Kind of Sad Love Story
December 8, 2024
Merritt Librarian reimagines 'alebrijes' sculptor’s life in new picture book
Merritt Librarian reimagines ‘alebrijes’ sculptor’s life in new picture book
May 30, 2024
College of Alameda jazz professor Glen Pearson demonstrates his musical talent on his classroom piano. He's one of the newest members of the Count Basie Orchestra, a historic 18-piece jazz ensemble that took home a Grammy this year.
The humble Grammy-winning pianist leading CoA’s music program
March 4, 2024
In Director Chelsea Bo's first feature-length film, half-sisters Harper (left, Chelsea Bo) and Georgie (right, Ava Acres), thrown together by circumstance and a weak blood relation, must untie the knots in their relationship. The film won "Jury Prize Feature" at the Alameda International Film Festival last week. (Courtesy: Paxeros)
No Right Way, Chelsea Bo’s hard-hitting emotional rollercoaster about the complexities of sisterhood, shown at Alameda International Film Festival
February 29, 2024
Incumbent Area 2 Trustee Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, pictured here in The Citizen's newsroom, has what it takes to stay on the Peralta board for another four years.
EDITORIAL: Keep Paulina Gonzalez-Brito on the Peralta board
September 25, 2024
Staff Writer Desmond Meagley stands in the very spot where a security guard confronted him last month: the doorway of the men’s restroom in the Laney College Library. Meagley, who is transgender, tried to report the incident, but reached a dead end when an administrator told him he would need the security guard’s name.
The Catch-22 in AP 3435, Peralta’s Harassment Protocol
May 19, 2024
Social Media Editor Isabelly Sabô stands in front of the door to The Citizen's newsroom. Sabô is an international student from Brazil.
We’re not just ‘rich kids on vacation’: The journey of an international student
May 5, 2024
(Photo: Glen Carrie/Unsplash)
Student elections open today. Has voter information been ‘widespread’?
April 8, 2024
The state flag of California flies underneath the American flag on the west side of the Laney College campus. Behind, the Tribune Tower, which once housed Oakland's daily print newspaper, sits in the city skyline. Both California and the United States have open government laws that establish the public's right to information, but the Peralta Community College District consistently lags behind in comprehensively fulfilling requests for public information made by student journalists at The Citizen. (Photo: Li Khan/The Citizen)
We sued our district over public records and won. Here’s what we learned
February 22, 2024
The American Straight A Academy helped students in China receive transfer degrees from the Peralta Community College District without paying international tuition or setting foot in California. The for-profit company, registered in Dallas, Texas, has not disclosed how much students pay for the experience.
Investigation: A look at the for-profit Chinese business that sold Peralta classes overseas
October 30, 2024
Investigation: Over half of PCCD conflict of interest disclosures nowhere to be found
Investigation: Over half of PCCD conflict of interest disclosures nowhere to be found
September 17, 2024
The Citizen Investigates: International Travel
The Citizen Investigates: International Travel
July 25, 2024
Sunshine Week 2024: Spotlighting public records
Sunshine Week 2024: Spotlighting public records
March 17, 2024
The UC Berkeley chapter of End Overdose at Sproul Plaza in Berkeley on Jan. 23, 2024. The organization passes out free fentanyl test strips to students, and gives other organizations training on Narcan usage. (Photo: Juliana Yamada/CalMatters)
Narcan at California colleges: Are students getting overdose medication?
March 8, 2024
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

The Citizen
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

The Citizen
Sam O'Neil

Sam O’Neil, Staff Writer

Full of ambition, this is Sam’s third semester at Laney and as Staff Writer of The Citizen. Stumbling into the journalism class in Fall 2023 thinking it was a basic news writing class, he was immediately hit with the reality that he was now a staff writer for the publication. Despite this, though, he quickly fell in love with the craft, and became obsessed with anything related to Peralta and its community.

In his off-time, Sam loves to study languages and watch assorted historical documentaries. He hopes that one day this studying will equip him with enough knowledge to travel the world and understand and immerse himself in all the cultures he can. However, in the meantime, being a mediocre trivia partner will do.

If you wish to contact Sam for any Peralta-related matter (or if you just want to say hello), feel free to reach out via email at [email protected].

All content by Sam O'Neil
Laney Engineering Department Chair Mallory Barkdull tallies points as her students pit their soccer-playing robots against each other. The friendly tournament challenges contestants to learn design and coding skills through play.

Robot soccer teaches students nuts and bolts of engineering

Engineering students at Laney College get to have a ball while learning coding and design basics
Sam O'Neil, Staff Writer
November 26, 2024
Who are Peralta’s student trustees?

Who are Peralta’s student trustees?

BCC students Sophia Parmigiani and Pierce Byrne want to bridge gaps between Peralta colleges
Sam O'Neil, Staff Writer
October 31, 2024
Peralta Trustee Paulina Gonzalez Brito addresses the crowd at Berkeley City College’s 50th anniversary celebration. The event featured a block party along with a groundbreaking ceremony for the college’s new Milvia Street building. (Photo: Marcus Creel/PCCD)

‘We’re still rising’: BCC celebrates 50th anniversary

College throws block party and breaks ground on new building
Sam O'Neil, Associate Editor
May 6, 2024
Activities at the meeting ranged from honest discussions about shared governance to creating posters, such as the one pictured above. (Source: PCCD)

PCCD budgeting council discusses changes to shared governance

New budget calendar aims to increase involvement of faculty, staff, students
Sam O'Neil, Associate Editor
April 8, 2024
(Graphic: Li Khan/The Citizen)

PCCD Trustees to vote on $6 million Marina contract

$63.7 million amendment to BCC’s Milvia Street Expansion also on agenda
Sam O'Neil, Associate Editor
February 27, 2024
Peralta Board of Trustees Brief 1/23: Enrollment increases; Laney, UCs partner for data science; DAS concerns

Peralta Board of Trustees Brief 1/23: Enrollment increases; Laney, UCs partner for data science; DAS concerns

Sam O'Neil, Associate Editor
February 12, 2024
(Graphic: Li Khan/The Citizen)

How $11.2 million in state funding led to a $6.2 million deficit for PCCD

A semester-long push and pull regarding cost-of-living raises culminated in budget cuts to address a $6.2 million deficit.
Sam O'Neil and Li Khan
December 24, 2023
(Photo by Li Khan/The Citizen)

Peralta Board of Trustees Brief: FabLabs, facilities, chancellor contract

Satch Alvarez, Sam O'Neil, and Ivan Saravia
November 29, 2023
A crowd gathers underneath the Laney Construction Canopy as Karl Seelbach, Laney’s Carpentry Department Chair, speaks at the ceremony. The new tiny home, pictured on the left, was donated to the Shelterwood Collective. (Courtesy: Filomeno Tomas)

Laney Carpentry Department finishes fourth tiny home project

Sam O'Neil, Associate Editor
November 18, 2023
Tammeil Gilkerson to be next PCCD Chancellor

Tammeil Gilkerson to be next PCCD Chancellor

Sam O'Neil, Leo Premnath-Ray, and Ian Waters
October 31, 2023
Meet the three finalists for BCC President

Meet the three finalists for BCC President

Li Khan, Sam O'Neil, and Ian Waters
October 3, 2023
PCCD hosts virtual town hall meeting on public safety

PCCD hosts virtual town hall meeting on public safety

Satch Alvarez and Sam O'Neil
September 30, 2023
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